


Of Blood and Bone

by Silverhaunter



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Under the Red Hood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-07-10 19:42:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15956198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverhaunter/pseuds/Silverhaunter
Summary: In which Gotham is a village watched over by a Lone Vampire, who was turned at a young age, and has protected his city ever since. He adopts a child who is turned to a wolf by a mob-pack that kills his parents.Gotham is ravaged by a cold winter, and thinking they’ve displeased what they believe to be a sinister creature who has taken over Wayne Manor, they send an orphan to the forest as a sacrifice. Of course, things don't go as planned, and the orphan is adopted.The story works through Dick's first time hurting someone as a wolf, and then the events that turn Jason into a Revenant, and the aftermath.





	Of Blood and Bone

**Author's Note:**

> Red Hood flirts with Nightwing in this, but due to the fact that basically all he can feel is rage 24/7 he doesn't actually mean it.   
> Red Hood / Jason Todd has a dissociative personality disorder.  
> He calls himself Red Hood and Jason Todd at different times.  
> The revenant lore is a lot different in this.

In which Gotham is a village watched over by a Lone Vampire, who was turned at a young age, and has protected his city ever since. He adopts a child who is turned to a wolf by a mob-pack that kills his parents.

         Gotham is ravaged by a cold winter, and thinking they’ve displeased what they believe to be a sinister creature who has taken over Wayne Manor, they send an orphan to the forest as a sacrifice. However, because they try to send out Jason’s friend, (both orphans) Jason gives himself up, and ends up meeting the monsters of Gotham, and they take him in.

         For a while, anyway.

 

         There’s one time where Dick gets angry with Jason, when they’re both young, and stupid. Sometimes Dick forgets what he is.

“You can’t be Robin!” Dick growls, but Jason just bristles and raises his human shackles,

“You gave it up, Bruce needs the assistance out there! So that he doesn’t do something stupid, you know that!” Jason hisses, and widens his stance.

“You don’t have the right!”

“Like hell I don’t! You’re just a circus freak, what makes you more special than me?”

“It’s not like that and you know it! I’m more of a son than you!”  
“Bullshit! When aren’t you and Bruce fighting?” Jason gets closer to Dick, and Dick leans in to take the challenge.

“You’re nothing! Your own village didn’t want you!”

“At least I had the integrity to take my death sentence!”

“We spared you!”

“You _spared_ me? You’re so full of shit! I’m a prisoner here! Everyone thinks I’m dead! Killing me would’ve been _kinder.”_

“Then maybe I should change that!”

“Not like you actually would, you let all the evil in this world waste away in the village dungeon.”

This is regular for them, about once a week they’ll be at each other’s throats, and then they’ll apologize, and do it again, eventually.

“I’m tired, Jason!”

“You’re always tired! You’re never even around! Some shit sort of brother you are.”

All Dick can see is red, even when his body begins to contort, he can’t hear Jason calling his name, and backing up, “Dick, what the fuck are y- _ah!_ That hurt, asshole!”

Dick grabs Jason’s neck and pushes him against the wall of the study, causing Jason to wriggle and claw at Dick’s hand.

“Can’t even control your anger, and you act like you’re so perfe-“

Jason goes quiet for a moment as he is thrown forward, onto his stomach and the air rushes from his lungs, and stuns him, “Dick, get off of me- _Get off- get the fuck off of me, you bastard-!”_ Jason shouts in panic as Dick’s huge paw lands in the middle of his back, and pins his head to the side.

Dick doesn’t hear or see as his jaw clamps down and Jason goes still. \

 

Dick comes to himself, slowly but surely, and when he sees what he’s done he _screams_ and Bruce thinks he’s been stabbed.

 

Bruce and Alfred rush into the study, and Dick is cradling Jason, hyperventilating, nuzzling his nose into in his thick black air, murmuring apology after apology. Dick occasionally moves from where he’s sobbing into Jason’s hair, and laps at his throat, trying to lick the blood away from where it’s smeared on the back, and sides of his little brother’s neck. Jason isn’t moving, his arm limp, eyes wide and glazed over from the poison in the wolf’s bite.

“I didn’t mean to, you’ve got to believe me, we were just fighting and I threw him down, I didn’t mean to- I didn’t-“

Bruce presses a hand to Dick’s cheek, and pulls Dick away, as Alfred’s hands begin to glow with a golden light, and the poison lifts from Jason’s veins and the wounds heal.

Jason blinks slowly, and groans.

 “Oh thank god, _thank god,_ Jason, I’m so sorry.”

 

 

They don’t fight after that, not at first.

 

 

         And then Jason is murdered by the other vampire that stalks through Gotham.

         He adopts the role of Robin well enough, but when he goes to search for his mother, the Joker, Bruce’s most persistant problem, finds them both.

         “You’re not him, are you? The first boy wonder? Ah, what a shame. I got all these new toys, too. Just for him… silver and all that.”

         Jason gives him his best impression of Bruce’s unimpressed glare.

         The Joker beats him senseless with a crowbar.

         “I think you’ve got a collapsed lung, you’ll have to speak up a little lambchop.”

         He spits blood at the Joker’s face with  his dying conciousness, as the bomb beside him begins to tick down, and the Joker begins to leave.

         Jason looks to the door, and then the bomb, and when it doesn’t move, Jason closes his eyes, and takes his death at face value.

         The day Jason’s roaming around the manor, and Alfred actually sees him is also the day where his body crawls its way out of his grave from his hate.

         “Alfred, my body-“ Jason clutches at the wall, the one in the spirit world, where Alfred is visiting him, “It’s pulling me back. I don’t want to- I don’t want to become that.”

         “Master Jason-“

         “I don’t wanna become that-“ Jason is panicking, and grabs onto Alfred, who starts to lose connection and focus, “Please, no-“ Jason dissapears in a flurry of screams and flames.

 

         “Heya, babe, whatcha doin’? Lost?” He’s Red Hood now, grabbing Nightwing around the waist, who jumps, backing up and turning around.

         “Ooh, lovin’ the new colors. Do a spin for me.” Nightwing goes to grab his batons, and Red Hood easily pulls a gun on him, tilting it to the side, “Blue looks great on you, babe. You speak English? Gone a little deaf, pretty young thang? Might wanna get your hearing checked…but hey, if you wanna go at it, I promise not to hurt you too bad. Wouldn’t want papa mad at me, ey prettybird?”

“I only flirt with one murderous assassin, thank you.” Nightwing finally speaks, and twirls his wrist and baton.

“Ohoho, he speaks. Baby trust me, I’m only flirting cause I know you like it.” Red Hood rolls his shoulder, hears his neck pop and feels loser already, “Killed somebody tonight, you shoulda seen, anything to get those hands on me,” He plays up a swoon, rolling his body, “rrrr, just how you like it, baby.”

Anything to confuse, confuse and misdirect.

_Anything._

Even flirting with Jason Todd’s sorry excuse of a brother.

Nightwing grimaces, and throws a baton for Jason to dodge, and immediately run into a high jump, turning his body midair, “I can be pretty too, you know, you got all those fancy tricks, but baby I’m the one who can use lethal force here.”

He shoots Nightwing in the arm, kicks him in the stomach.

“Mind your step.” He murmurs, grabbing Nightwing’s comm from his ear as he recoils in shock, “You still kinda keep ‘em in the same spot- Oh, stop trying to hide, I’m not gonna spoil it so soon, pretty thing.”

“Hey batman, how’s it? Your pretty bird here’s pretty fucked up. My bad, sir. Said I’d have him home by morning, so here he is.”

Red Hood grapples to the nearest roof, and Jason lands smoothly, sighing softly, _soon._

Red Hood watches from the roof, and salutes with his gun as Batman narrows in on his location.

He runs.

Jason paces the room where he’s grabbed Nightwing, who is mumbling and _talking, endless fucking talking._

“Shut the fuck up, he should be here soon, I’m not going to beat you with a crowbar or anything, you mindless—“ Red Hood stops himself, and pulls off his hood, and Nightwing doesn’t very well recognize him, what with the domino and the poor lighting,“ah, goddamn, is it good to be back. I feel alive again, you know? I mean, literally. Ah-ah. no, no, no! Don’t even _dream_ about wolfing out on me, because, honestly I’d have no choice but to kill you, and, _boy,_ wouldn’t that be unfortunate?”

Jason cracks his knuckles, and rolls back his shoulders, smoking a cigarette, standing behind Nightwing, who can’t see him at that angle.

“Oh, here he comes! Sh, sh- Shut it! _shut the fuck up for a second_!” Jason exerts his power and the lights fizzle out, as he eases out of their phsyical reality behind Nightwing, slipping through the crack he created when he died, and placing his mask back on.

Nightwing wasn’t talking after the first sh, so he realizes something is very wrong.

Batman’s cape gives him away as easily as the popping of lights gives away a supernatural power, and Red Hood slips through the crack into their reality and the lights spark as they hum with life.

“Oh, holy shit! You showed. He’s your favourite, though, so I’m honestly,” Red Hood puts his hand on Nightwing’s throat and forces him to look, “not too surprised.”

Hood phases out of reality and only his voice echos around Batman, whistling, “Shiny new costume, I like it.” Jason quickly puts a bullet into Batman’s side, “Still not quite perfect, though. Weak.”

He kneels down in front of Bruce, “We’re not done here, by the way. You can have the kid, adult, whatever you call him so you can sleep better at night, but  you _might_ want to be more careful where you leave your little… birds, or whatever you call them.”

Bruce injects his body with a tube of liquid, and Red Hood tilts his head, “That’s new. But, so is the latest Robin…”

Jason dodges an incoming attack and wolf whistles, “Damn, got outta those quick, but not… quick enough, the plan is in motion.”

“You’re going away a long time, Hood.” Nightwing growls, like some kind of dog. _Oh wait, he is._

Red Hood winks, “Big Bad Wolf, right? Gotta catch me first.”

Escaping from the hole in the roof, he leads them to the destination, where the Joker is likely just returning from conciousness.

 

They follow, as expected, hot on his trail.

 

Jason slides through the window, and Batman and Nightwing roll in.

“Do you boys know what a-“

“Red Hood-“ Nightwing starts.

“Daddy’s talking, so do yourself a favor and zip it before I fill your jaw with lead, thanks,” he hisses, “Anyway, do you boys know what a revenant is?”

“An evil spirit, inhabiting its former body to haunt the living, usually decaying.” Batman responds.

“You tried, E for effort. A revenant is formed due to a brutal death, forced to haunt the living with both a physical and spirit form. Most actually blend in perfectly with the living, but typically are venegeful. Like myself, whose body you might recognize.” He pulls off his hood, and throws it to the side.

“Jason?”

“Jason has left the building, but sure.” He pulls open a closet, “this guy, however, is most unfortunately alive, which honestly? Sorta dissapointed, Bruce.”

 

He pulls _the Joker_ from the closet.

“You know, in movies, the protagonist’s love one dies, and everyone is like, ‘that’s not what they would’ve wanted’, you know, when they try to kill whoever does it, but that is… _exactly_ what I wanted, I don’t think you understand how horrifyingly dissapointing it is to realize the man who _murdered you,_ turned you into a _revenant,_ is still alive.” Red Hood cackles, “Bruce, you talk about, a better Gotham, a peaceful Gotham.Where’s my peace, where’s the peace of the hundreds of screaming souls he has taken the life of?” and with a thousand voices he adds, “Where’s our peace?”

Jason talks with a discordant sound of voices, “You know, we thought that, Jason would be the last person you let him kill. And maybe you’d take him out because,” Jason’s body shudders, and Jason’s voice adds, “He took me away from you,” the voices continue, “But, this death-worshipping piece of garbage is still getting out and killing people, good people,” Jason swallows his pain and tosses a gun to Bruce, “If you do this, I will go, or I will stay. I will do whatever you ask of me, I’ll dissapear forever, all I need you to do is choose.”

Bruce begins to walk away, causing Nightwing to do a double-take.

“Decide!” the voices, with Jason’s leading them, and then being swallowed by the massive amounts of screaming, “Decide!”

Jason puts the gun to the Joker’s head, “Maybe there won’t be peace for Jason, but for the rest of those he’s damned…” Jason’s throat splits open and sprays blood across the Joker’s face and his shoulder, wear a bat-a-rang slices it.

Jason seizes and a white mist begins to flow from his wound, screams and sobs echoing from his body, as souls begin to return to the other side of the parallel world.

Jason’s body collapses, and all that’s left is his soul, covered in burns and blood, “How could you do this? To all those people-“ Jason clutches his chest in a scream, and his dying body clicks the countdown on the bomb, “How could you do this _to me_?” Jason’s spirit is red, and burns with a rusty color, blood-looking tears falling from his eyes.

“I was in that manor for years!” his voice is shaking, “months! With nothing, and no-one! And you’re condemning me back to that silent hell!” Jason’s shaking, and the building catches fire from the sparks, just as it explodes, “I think it’s you I hate.”

 

 

Dick screams, howls and generally whines for _days._

Jason silently roams the halls, until his body begins to pull him back.

“Ah, good.” He cracks his knuckles, “Let’s dance.”


End file.
